The Dark Lady
by esprit en deuil
Summary: Something unexpected tries to come between Tony and Gibbs, will they figure out what's going on in time or will their relationship end up costing Tony his life? Mild slash of the Tibbs variety. Warnings: weirdness ahead... don't say I didn't warn you..
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hiya all! Okay so I listened to the song Dark lady by Bedlam Bards and I couldn't help it, my mind just came up with his fic idea. It's the weirdest, craziest fic I have ever written. This is a WIP so I'll be posting as I go along, I know I was supposed to wait until I finish a fic and only then start posting, but I just can't seem to help myself. And besides I wanted to see what response this fic would get, the first chapter may seem a bit confusing to some, but I'm kinda just setting the premise with this perspective and then I think I'm going to write from more general perspective after this. Okay enough talk, I want to see what you people think of this, so here's the first chapter! Enjoy and please note that this is a slash fic of the Tibbs kind, though there most likely won't be any sex scenes in this fic. There is also a hint of supernatural in this fic, you'll see what I mean... **_

Being the center of someone's world is a heady experience.

Knowing with absolute certainty that that someone is going to come to you after a long workday and you're the only thing that can help soothe them and get them to relax. It all makes one feel so special, appreciated.

That is until that someone finds another to do that for them. Finds someone who can give them even more than you ever could.

Like her Jethro had found someone else to give him what she always thought he could get only from her.

Looking at the two men it was obvious that they were happy and comfortable together.

Gibbs was leaning against the workbench looking at the plans laid on it while his partner was standing next to him, smiling at the way the other man was explaining patiently the finer points of boat building to him.

The relationship between them was new, though Tony had been a frequent visitor to the basement for a while. They just had never taken the step to take their relationship to the next level.

Well that had been until a few weeks earlier when something just shifted between them and Gibbs had pressed the other man against the ribs of the boat and after getting permission to do so, had kissed Tony senseless. Both men had thought they could feel the boat thrum in protest under their body weight, but neither had had the inclination to spare more than a fleeting thought to the weird sensation as they were rapidly losing themselves in the sensation of their wishes finally coming true.

They'd taken it slow as far as she could tell. And Tony became a permanent fixture around the house and in the basement, thought Jethro didn't spend nearly as much time in the basement as he used to.

Tony was poisoning him.

More and more often Jethro would come down to the basement and work on his boat, and the place that had once been his sanctuary of silent solitude, was fast becoming a place of companionship, the silence still there, but occasionally broken by a peaceful chatter and the sound of not one but two people moving around the small space.

One thing though that hadn't changed was the fact that, though Tony occasionally touched the boat, Jethro was the only one to do any actual work on her. And for that she was eternally grateful.

Having to share Jethro was becoming more and more difficult and every time Tony managed to lure the other man out of the basement and into the actual house, she became more certain that there was not room for both of them in Jethro's life, she resented the Italian for trying to steal her Jethro away from her.

Leaning against the workbench and looking over the plans for Jethro's project, Tony smiled at the other man and with kiss to the other man's cheek asked him if he was ready to retire to bed already. The younger man yawned widely at the end of his query, which made Jethro smile that special affectionate smile of his and he took of his glasses and nodded his head.

"Let's go then." He held out a hand to the other man and Tony took it with a smile and together they made their way across the basement and towards the stairs.

She was expecting the darkness that would come as they turned off the basement light, but it never came. Instead she heard her Jethro's voice.

"Damn I left my glasses on the workbench, if I don't put them in the case now I'll forget them tomorrow."

She was almost giddy with the idea of Jethro coming back, alone this time, even if it would be for only a minute, but she was disappointed when Tony's voice drifted down.

"Don't worry about them, I'll get them for you while you go warm up the shower so we can get some sleep after cleaning up all this sawdust."

There was a small pause where she imagined the kiss they must have shared and then pounding steps were making their way down the stairs.

If she could she would have screamed in frustration, it was so unfair! But then a thought came to her, maybe she didn't need to get Jethro alone after all, if she just caught Tony unaware, then she might be able to rid herself of the competition.

Oh yeah, and then she'd have Jethro all to herself like in the good old days. As she saw Tony step towards the workbench and the glasses he was there to fetch, she saw his eyes stray and look straight at her.

Maybe this was her chance to teach the guy that no one stole her Jethro away from her.

TBC...

_**A/N2: Ten points to everyone who correctly guesses who 'she' is. It's not that hard to figure out, but anyways... :D Reviews are love and I'm in need of some loving! ;) I'm trying to get the next chapter up either tomorrow or the day after. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Woah! I was really surprised about the response to the first chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed and/or put this fic to their alert or favorite list! And I was really excited to read your guesses on the identity of the mysterious "she" and I decided to let you out of your misery! The next chapter will most likely take a bit longer for me to write, but I promise to post pn Friday at the very latest (I'll try to get it done sooner). On and I forgot to mention that because this is a WIP, I have not had these chapters beta read, this way I can post them as soon as I get them ready and have checked them over myself. Anyway without further stalling, here is chapter two. I hope you enjoy it :)**_

As Tony descended the stairs back into the basement he couldn't stop the shudder that went through him at being there alone.

He couldn't explain it, couldn't put a finger on the feeling, but there was something that made the hairs at the back of his neck stand at attention. He cautiously moved closer to the workbench as if waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows and attack him. He always felt watched down in the basement.

But there was no-one there.

Finally he was standing in reaching distance of the glasses he'd come down to get, but before he could reach out to take them and retreat back to the safety of the house, his attention was drawn to something else.

The boat was standing in the middle of the basement floor, there was nothing unusual about it. He even went as far as bending down to see if there was anyone hiding under the thing, though he knew even the mere notion was silly.

Maybe he was losing his mind.

He shook his head and turned back to the workbench before biting his lip and facing the boat once more. He looked towards the door quickly to make sure Gibbs wasn't lurking there before moving closer to the object that had drawn his attention.

It wasn't like Jethro had ever forbidden him from touching the boat, but still he had a weird feeling that it was something he wasn't permitted to do. It made no sense since Jethro was the one who had asked him if he wanted to help sand the ribs and what not, but still the feeling lingered.

Now thought without anyone seeing, he moved to stand beside the wooden construction and carefully held out his hand to touch one of the planks covering the frame. A shiver raced down his spine and he pulled back.

Shaking his head again at his own stupidity he stroked one hand reverently over the plank petting it, as if calming a mighty beast. The wood was smooth and comforting under his palm, he had the sudden urge to know what wood it was. The feeling of being watched was there still, but he tried to ignore it and relax.

As he moved his hand to make another pass over the boat he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand and he cried out, yanking the limb away from the source of the pain.

His heart was racing and he could almost feel the air vibrate with a weird sense of satisfaction as he looked at his hand which was bleeding freely.

Suddenly he heard footsteps and it wasn't long before Jethro was standing on the stairs and Tony felt safer now that he wasn't alone down there anymore. He tried his best not to think about how silly that sounded even to himself.

"Tony? I heard.." his words trailing off at the sight of his partner holding his bleeding hand and seeing blood on the boat.

"What the hell happened?" He pounded down the stairs and surveyed the scene more closely before going to the workbench where he slipped his glasses in his pocket and picked up a clean rag before going back to Tony and taking his bloody hand in his and pressing the cloth there.

"Your boat bit me." There was a pout on Tony's lips as he looked at his partner tending to his wounded hand, there was a gash on the side of his hand and Tony looked up at the boat and saw a big ragged splinter that he hadn't noticed earlier that he had obviously stuck his hand on.

"Well that's what you get when you get too close to other man's lady." There was an amused twinkle in Jethro's eyes as he said it and Tony smiled at him briefly before grimacing as the other man peeled back the rag from his wound and looked the gash over over.

"It's not too big, don't think it even needs stitches. I'll clean it up and put a dressing on it." He stood up and rummaged around for the first aid kit he knew he had stashed there somewhere.

As he watched his partner Tony moved to sit on the sawhorse. He turned to give the boat a brief glare for "biting" him but then he turned his attention back to Jethro as the question he'd been wondering earlier came back to his mind.

"What wood is she made of?" He saw the other man's back stiffen and he swallowed hard, wondering what he'd said wrong.

There was a sight and the muscled that had tensed, relaxed again and Jethro moved to stand next to him with the kit in his hands.

"It's redwood." He answered tersely. There were shadows in his and Tony couldn't help but wish he hadn't let his curiosity get the best of him.

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business. Shouldn't have asked. " He mumbled around a grimace as his wound stung as Gibbs cleaned it.

Jehtro paused momentarily in his actions and gave his partner a brief glance before sighing again and gearing himself for opening up a bit. He knew that if their relationship had any chance of working, he would have to learn to trust Tony even with the private and painful things.

"Shannon picked it out." Jethro began quietly as he finished cleaning the wound that seemed far smaller now that the blood had been cleaned off, he started to dress the cut as he continued.

"It was supposed to be our little project. She was good with her hands and when I told her I wanted to built a boat for us she was so excited, she had the name picked out for the boat almost as soon as we finished the plans." A small smile touched his lips at the memory and as he felt Tony's hand on his shoulder and to his surprise he found himself wanting to share this with his younger partner.

"She went with me to the lumber yard and almost drove me crazy by going back and forth with trying to decide which wood she liked from the ones I'd told her were suitable for this. She finally picked the redwood, saying something about someone pouring all their love in the wood to make it red."

Now he was just holding the other man's hand in his while he lived through the memory of that day. Finally he pressed a kiss to the dressing he's applied on Tony's hand and stoop up from his bent position and sat down next to the other man.

"We never got the chance to finish the boat. Kelly was six when we started the project and it was slow going since she wanted to help and sometimes they both proved to be more distracting than helpful."

He swallowed hard and could feel Tony moving closer and draping an arm around his shoulders.

"Then they were gone and I couldn't stand the sight of the thing. I tore it apart and burned it."

There was silence for a while as both men were lost in thought as Gibbs remembered the rage he'd felt when he saw the boat sitting in the basement as if nothing had happened while his girls were gone forever. He'd taken out his pain on the thing they had built together and the only thing that had survived the attach had been the one rib where Shannon had carved a heart into the wood saying that now whenever Jethro worked on the boat he would remember that she loved him, he didn't have the heart to destroy it. That rib was the only part of that first boat that had made it into the boat he was building now. Shaking off the memories Gibbs turned his attention back to present and finished his story.

"I had a lot of the wood we'd picked still sitting in the shed out back. I'd thought it would be rotten by now, but when I checked, I saw that there was enough redwood there to make a frame to another boat and it was all in surprisingly good condition. So I decided to use it, honor her memory in a way."

He raised his eyes to meet those of his partner and it took his breath away to see those green eyes filled with not only sadness but also love.

"Thank you." Tony whispered before brushing a gentle kiss over Jethro's mouth. "Thank you for telling me all that."

They shared a small tired smile and leaned in for another kiss but a clatter had them pulling apart as the hammer Gibbs had left on the boat fell to the floor.

Tony chuckled slightly and stole a small kiss before standing up and holding out a hand to the other man.

"Maybe we should go upstairs, I somehow get the feeling your boat isn't too keen on me." He gave Gibbs a wink and a grin, though he felt a bit apprehensive about.. something. The smile that appeared on Jethro's face alleviated some of his worry.

"Oh I don't know, I think she might be just a bit jealous." He laughed at the incredulous look his younger lover shot him.

"Oh yeah, maybe you should name it 'The green eyed lady' then."

"Mm. Close." Gibbs allowed as he pulled Tony in his arms and and pulled him towards the workbench where he pulled out a hand drawn picture of a beautiful sailboat gliding through the storming water.

"This is how she pictured the finished boat." He smiled slightly and pointed a finger to the name written on the side of the boat in the picture.

"Shan always said that the boat would be the only woman she would ever share me with. She loved that old song about the gypsy fortune teller and she wanted to name the boat after it. She made jokes about is being my rightful mistress." Gibbs chuckled softly at that and DiNozzo couldn't help but join him.

Tony smiled at how uncharacteristically open his partner was being but he would never complain about that. He loved hearing the other man tell about his past, even if the memories sometimes seemed bittersweet.

He looked down at the picture on the bench and took in the details that had been captured. There were small smudges around the edge of the paper and the paper itself looked old and worn, but the picture was as clear and beautiful as it probably had been when it had been made.

Tony looked at the name written to the side of the boat with neat letters and he couldn't help but smile as he thought that now he knew what the boat would be named once it was finished.

_The Dark Lady_ would someday set sail just like Shannon had envisioned.

And Tony was looking forward to helping his lover make it happen.

TBC...

_**Yay! Soooo some people correctly guessed that the 'she' was referring to the boat. Don't question it, just go with it :D I told you there would be weirdness. Anyways, reviewes are like hugs and I never say no to some huggies :D **_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I'm here! Sorry for the wait folks, but I do hope this chapter is worth the wait. It seems that this fic is running much longer than I thought it would, hope no-one minds :D I have no idea how I wrote this chapter, I guess you might say it wrote itself, but I did try to check that there are no glaring mistakes. It is kinda different from my usual writing style, but I hope it works. This was never supposed to be a case fic so there will be no detailed description of a case though there are mentions of one. Okay now I'm gonna let you guys get to the actual chapter as soon as I have thanked everyone for the wonderful feedback and all that, so thank you! Now the chapter:**_

The next morning as Tony rushed to get ready for work fast enough to suit his partner who was grumbling by the front door, the younger man's mind went back to the night before and the weird feeling he'd had down in the basement. But now in the light of a new morning it all felt even sillier, he was a grown man, he shouldn't be afraid of bogey mans anymore.

He laughed at the absurdly of his own thoughts and hurried his steps as he heard the front door slam and knew that if he wasn't outside within two minutes, he would have to walk to work since his own car was in the shop and Gibbs wasn't in the habit of waiting.

As he threw himself into the passenger's seat just as the other man started to back out of the driveway he caught a glimpse of the smirk the older man wasn't quick enough to hide. Oh in reality he knew Jethro would never leave him behind, but the older man enjoyed playing the bastard and knowing his partner, Tony wasn't sure if he wanted to take the chance.

Maybe if he'd known how chaotic the day would turn he would have gladly been left home. Well no not really, he really wouldn't have liked that, Tony mused as he helped his partner back into the house after two days of work with barely no time to take a break. After all, if he hadn't been there to watch his boss's back when they finally caught up with their suspect, who knows how badly the other man would have been hurt. As it was, Tony had been able to disarm their suspect, unfortunately it was only after the guy had caught them off guard and gotten a shot off that had hit Gibbs square in the chest.

Luckily the vest had caught the bullet, but it had done nothing to protect his head as the force of the shot took his legs from under him.

"I swear Boss, between the two of us, we could keep the head trauma unit running all by ourselves with the rate we're going."

The swat he unreceived for the quip hadn't lacked any of it's usual sting, which was impressive since the other man looked like a stiff breeze might knock him on his ass if Tony got the inclination of relinquishing the supporting hold he had on him.

Tony however had no such inclination and he got his partner safely into the house and laying down on the couch.

"Okay Jet, you need anything before I head back to finish at work?"

There was a grunt from the sofa that sounded like an affirmative so he just shrugged before bending down to place a quick peck on the other man's lips.

"You want me to stop by after we finish for the day? It might be late if we don't find the accomplice."

"I'll be here." Which in Gibbs speak was as good as an invitation, so Tony smiled and headed for the front door.

"Oh and remember what Ducky said, no working on the boat until you feel better, so take the meds and get some rest!" It had only been Ducky's orders that had forced Gibbs to relent and let Tony take him home, well that and the fact that Vance had seen him close to passing out in the bullpen after the effects of the concussion caught up with him and he'd reinforced the ME's orders.

Tony would have liked nothing better then to stay to look after his partner as was SOP with concussion patients, but nothing about the way Gibbs worked was SOP and besides with the boss out of commission for the day, he was the one who would have to take the lead.

And he had a murder accomplice to catch.

Coming back to Gibbs' house after a long day of work was more like coming home than if he'd gone to his own apartment. Well that was unless they decided to stay at his apartment, but those days were rare since the flat was much smaller and though there were some creature comforts you couldn't find at Gibbs', the homey feeling in the house more than made up for that.

Pulling his car to the driveway, Tony shook his head as he spotted the light coming through the basement window. To be honest he wasn't surprised that Jethro was down there, but he had hoped the man would do the more sensible things and actually get some rest.

Well Gibbs had been called many things but sensible wasn't one of them.

And that's exactly what he told the older man as he descended the basement stairs after putting his gun into the safe.

He didn't expect and answer so he didn't give Gibbs a chance to form one as he went on.

"Thought you weren't supposed to be down here tonight." He made his way closer and for some reason he felt the overwhelming need to glare at the boat, and it had been a long few days so he gave into the urge, glaring at the thing as if it was the poor boat's fault that Gibbs couldn't follow doctor's orders.

"Ducky said I can be when I feel better. Well now I feel better. " The raised eyebrow accompanying the words was a silent demand to not question his words.

But Tony found himself unable to completely cover the disbelieving snort that escaped him and that only served to make Jethro glare at him.

Which he ignored completely.

"So did you find the other perp?"

"Nope" Tony answered shortly knowing the explosion was coming.

"What? What the hell are you doing here then?" The glare was now in operation ful force, though it was obvious it wasn't one hundred percent effective as Gibbs raised a hand to rub at his temple in a rare sign of pain.

Tony frowned slightly as he got the weird feeling that if it was able, the boat would be gloating at him for being the target of the man's ire, but he shook the strange thought off. Now was not the time to be losing his marbles.

He sighed heavily and allowed his shoulders to slump in a show of exhaustion, though he didn't have to fake one bit of it, and for effect he rubbed his hand over his face before speaking.

"Look Boss, we've been at it for two days straight and the team is exhausted. I sent everyone home to regroup and get some rest before going back bright and early. Besides any leads we have won't be of any use before tomorrow morning anyhow because there's no way to get in touch with some people in the middle of the night. McGee's got his computer and cell linked somehow so if there's anything urgent from one of his searches and BOLOs, he'll know immediately and so will we. Come on, you need to get some rest and I'm wiped out too."

When he saw that the other man wasn't completely convinced thought he looked like he really needed to get some sleep, he decided that it might be time to use some dirty tricks. The older man looked like he was exhausted and the man was stubborn enough to never admit to something he perceived as a weakness. Gibbs would never say his head was hurting and he needed to lie down, but he would never deny the rest from his partner if he thought he really needed it.

So Tony took a deliberate step towards his partner and allowed the exhaustion he'd been carrying to wash over him so that his eyelids started to droop and he stumbled slightly, feeling a hand grip his arm.

"Hey, you okay?" There was worry in Gibbs' eyes and Tony didn't want him to worry too much so he smiled tiredly at his partner.

"I'm fine, just tired. Lets go to bed? I'll fill you in on the case in the morning before work."

The older man just looked at him in contemplation for a moment and then nodded his head before gently leading his partner to the stairs and keeping a hand at the small of his back as they walked up the steps.

Tony wasn't fooled, he saw the slight hesitation in Jethro's step and knew the older man needed the support more than he did, so without saying a word he allowed the other man to guide him while wrapping his own arm around his waist, as if to give himself some added stability when in reality it was all for the other man's benefit. Well mostly anyway.

In silence they got ready for bed and finally under the covers, where Tony snuggled closer to the other man. He couldn't help the tired and relieved smile at having convinced Jethro to get to bed and rest.

Sometimes Gibbs needed the quiet of the basement, his sanctuary, and he could respect that. But sometimes Jethro needed to be pulled out of the exile of his own making and Tony was more than glad he could be there to do just that and watch his partner's six.

But not everyone was as happy about that.

As Tony and Gibbs drifted off to sleep, The dark lady was seething. She was the one Gibbs had come to when he felt poorly, and now the young man had taken him away once more. She didn't like that, no she didn't like that at all.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

It took two more weeks, far longer than anyone thought, for the team to get a hold of the guy they were sure was their second perp.

Everyone was waiting for a spectacular ending for the game of cat and mouse they had been engaged in, but in the end the apprehension of the guy was as anti-climatic as possible. The man didn't put up a fight, didn't ask for a lawyer and cracked in the shortest timer in interrogation that they had ever seen. It seemed that the weeks on the road and looking over his shoulder had turned the man into a nervous wreck, and in the end he was almost glad to have been caught as long as it put an end to the constant fear of getting found out.

So finally all the reports were filed, the I's dotted and T's crossed and all that, after two weeks of only being home for a quick pit-stops at home, the team was looking forward to getting some well deserved down time.

After saying their good-byes both McGee and Ziva gathered their things and hurried out of the bullpen, as if afraid that if they lingered for more than a second, Gibbs would find some work for them to do and cancel their free weekend.

Tony smirked at the two agents, though he could really understand their haste. He probably would have been the first one in the elevator if he hadn't wanted to finalize their weekend plans before leaving.

"So, your place tonight?" Tony would never admit it, but he kinda missed the smell of fresh sawdust on Gibbs, besides his place had a homey feel to it that Tony's lacked.

"Yeah, I have to head up to debrief Vance and I bet there's a pile of paperwork waiting for my signature with him." Gibbs rolled his eyes and Tony smirked, everyone knew Gibbs hated paperwork with a passion, so the fact that Vance somehow always managed to make him sign everything was somewhat of a miracle.

Or maybe their relationship was making the older man more mellow. Tony wasn't sure if that would be a good or a bad thing.

From the stinging left by the head slap Gibbs has bestowed upon him, it seemed that he wasn't going soft after all.

"You hear me DiNozzo? I told you to head out and I'll see you at mine in a few hours." There was a smirk on his lips as Tony made a show of rubbing the spot where the hand had connected with his head.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going I'm going." Tony muttered as he gathered his stuff and made his way towards the elevator as Gibbs headed to the director's office.

Coming into the empty house was something Tony found mildly creepy. It wasn't like he was afraid of ghosts or anything, but just coming there and everything being dark and quiet made it seem a little spooky.

Shrugging out of his jacket and kicking of his shoes, Tony made himself at home.

He checked his watch and decided to put the coffee machine ready though he held off on staring it yet, since it would be an hour at least before Jethro would be home and the older man liked his coffee dark enough to corrode and hot enough to scorch.

How the man could drink so much coffee even late in the evening and still get a full nights sleep was beyond him, but Tony found he didn't mind as long as he didn't have to drink the stuff, the taste was okay though when it was on Gibbs' tongue so maybe it wasn't all bad.

Shaking off the thought with a smile Tony pulled out a bottle of beer from the bridge and leaned his back to the counter as he opened the bottle and took a long swig. He turned his head and rolled his shoulders to work out some of the kinks from his neck before his eyes settled on the door that would lead to the basement.

The house was quiet enough so that he could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall as he contemplated that small door.

He'd never been down there without Gibbs usually being there already waiting for him, the one time a few weeks back having been the first time he ventured down alone and look how well that had turned out.

But now, for reasons he couldn't fathom, he had the urge to go down into the basement, or batcave as he would call it if there wasn't a serious threat of getting a mother of all head slaps if he dared utter those words in association to the basement. That in itself wasn't unusual, the part about wanting to sneak into the basement without permission, but the thought behind it was.

Tony had an urge to go down to the basement to placate the boat.

He laughed out loud at the thought and shook his head before half draining his beer with one gulp. He really was losing his mind.

But he shrugged his shoulders and with a shake of his head he headed for the door and opened it, flicking the switch next to the door to flood the basement with light.

He paused briefly by the door as he contemplated if it really was such a good idea to go down there without Jethro's permission. Well in for a penny in for a pound, he finally decided and figured that he had already started to precess of going down, so he might as well go through with it.

Slowly he descended the stairs, contributing the unnerved feeling he was having as being a byproduct of too much work and being tired and so he continued on his way. He paused as he reached the bottom and thought that if the boat could think she'd probably be disappointed that it was him standing there and not Gibbs, at least that was the feeling that he somehow had.

"Don't worry, Jethro will be home in a few hours." He didn't know why he said it, maybe it was the silence making him feel jittery and he wanted to break it, or maybe it was to remind himself that Gibbs really would be there soon. He didn't know but he felt better for having said it.

He approached the boat, not really sure why he was down there in the first place, but unwilling to leave just yet all the same.

The first night he'd been down there alone with the boat, there had been a strange undercurrent of hostility in the air, but tonight he felt more at ease. The nervousness he felt was more because somehow it felt wrong to feel almost welcome in Gibbs' sanctuary without the older man there making him feel like that.

He also had the feeling that tonight the boat might not be as adverse to his touch as it had been last time. He was puzzled by how different the feeling was to how he had felt earlier. He really was going insane.

He took a drink from the bottle he was carrying before setting it down on the workbench and once again turning his attention to the structure in the middle of the room that was held over the floor with two big blocks in both ends, keeping the boat from touching the floor so that it was easier to work on her.

He made his way over to the frame of the boat and as hesitantly as ever, placed his hand on one of the ribs. This time he felt no resistance, which was a stupid thought in on itself, It's a boat not some god damned woman, Tony reminded himself. It was stupid to expect that the thing would shrug off his touch. He was starting to think the nagging feeling he had of the thing was all his imagination.

Deciding to prove the point he leaned down to bent his long frame enough to be able to crawl from under the lowest rib and get inside the structure.

He sat on the bench that was in the middle of the boat that Gibbs sometimes used for sleeping when he fell asleep under the boat. He looked around and laughed slightly at how nervous he'd really been to venture "inside the beast" as he thought of it. It made him feel stupid to have been so-

His thoughts were interrupted as his gut flared to life and he could hear a strange rumbling.

At first he thought that Gibbs had returned, but as he listened more closely he could tell that the sound was coming from somewhere much closer.

Getting a bad feeling he quickly got up from the bench. As he reached up to take support of one of the supporting beams of the boat he could feel that the fine tremors in the wood and he pulled his hand back. His eyes went wide as he thought of the possibility of an earthquake and he bent down to get out from under the boat, but just as he was under the side, he saw one of the supports move because of the trembling and before he knew it the thing was crashing down on him. The lowest beam hit him on the side of the head before falling down on his shoulder, back and left thigh, effectively pinning him down.

He moaned as he took stock of the situation. The trembling had stopped and the basement was quiet except for the sound oh his ragged breathing and occasional cough, caused by the sawdust now drifting in the air. He raised his gaze a bit and saw a piece of wood that had stopped the boat's descend so that though he was pinned and hurting like hell, the whole weight of the thing hadn't been put on him. He had never realized how heavy the structure actually was.

His mind came up with a quip about how Gibbs' lady was getting fat, but as there was no-one to hear he kept it in.

He was trying to reach into his pocket with his right hand in order to find his cell and call Gibbs, but a new sound drew his attention. It was a bit like a growl, but before he could figure out where it was coming from, one of the planks that must have come loose in all the jostling, fell with a creak from it's place and hit him on the head, causing everything to go black.

TBC...

_**A/N: Okay so it wasn't as good as I had hoped, but I think it went okay, what do you think? ;) Next chapter will be more from Gibbs' point of view and I'll try to get it posted in a few days, I have it kinda planned, but not sure how to actually write it. But anyways, thank you once again to everyone who has shown their support to this fic with alerts, favs and reviews! You guys are awesome! Aaand I got a job for the summer so yay for that! :D **_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: It's been a freaking week! I'm so sorry folks for keeping you waiting that long! Things have been kinda hectic with school and moving, I didn't realize how much crap I have... Let me know if this chapter makes sense, It's now 3 am and my braincells are asleep, but I decided that I would get this chapter up before going to bed tonight so here we are :D Sooooo now the chapter is finally here, thank you for your patience everyone who is still with this fic! (Why do I get the feeling again that there is something hinky with that sentence...) **_

Coming home and seeing Tony's car parked in his drive way was one of the things that never failed to bring a smile on his face and make a warm feeling spread in his belly.

This evening was no exception.

The smile only got bigger when he got into the kitchen and spotted the coffee maker that had been loaded ready and with something akin to glee he flipped the switch that would cause the machine to start doing its thing.

Something was missing from the tableau though. He cocked his head to the side as he listened to the tell tale sounds of Tony moving around and he frowned slightly as he realized how quiet the house was.

Tony was usually one of those people who made noise wherever they were and whatever they were doing. It should have been surprising that he was so good with undercover work since his mere presence seemed sometimes larger than life, but on the job DiNozzo could be as quiet, calm and collected as the situation warranted. Off duty those traits were something that Tony seemed to find overrated.

Which usually also meant that the younger man would greet him as soon as he got home, if not by actually appearing at the door, then at least by yelling a greeting from what part of the house he was snooping in at the time.

But now there was only silence.

He looked around to see if there was a note of any kind to indicate the younger man had left to go somewhere but instead of finding what he was looking for his eyes trained on the basement door.

The half open basement door and the light coming from the other room.

His frown deepening, Gibbs made his way to the door and called out to his partner. Listening for a moment.

When there was no response his gut started churning. It wasn't like Tony to go down to the basement by himself, granted Jehtro had never forbidden him from venturing down there but something always seemed to hold the younger man back, stopping him from feeling completely comfortable down there.

He pushed the door open fully and stepped onto the landing. With cautiousness he usually only used when entering a potentially dangerous situation, he made his way down a few steps and looked down into the actually basement.

What he saw made his eyes widen and his jaw clenched as he rushed down the remaining steps and went to kneel by his partner who lay unmoving under the boat that had obviously came down from the supports. Why and how it had happened wasn't important right at the moment, the most important thing was feeling the reassuring thumping against his fingertips that he was slipped to check the other man's pulse.

After having reassured himself that Tony was still alive he took in the scene more fully. He could see the weight of the wood holding the other man down and a careful probing confirmed his initial thought that the other man was stuck under the boat. He quickly called an ambulance and advised them of the situation at hand before setting to work trying to rouse his still unconscious partner.

The stillness of the other man was starting to worry him, he had no idea how long Tony had been down here and how long he'd been unconscious.

He wanted to do something, smash the rib holding Tony down or playing incredible hulk and just throwing the boat off from the younger man, but the part of his brain that was till functioning logically knew that he had no choice but to wait for help.

He ran his hand soothingly through Tony's hair as the other man moaned and his eyelids started to flutter.

"Hey Tony, you with me?" Gibbs questioned softly while moving his hands to keep his partner from moving his head too much as he came to.

Tony blinked his eyes open slowly and as he became aware of being on a cold hard surface, he tried to get up, only to realize that he was held down and hurting like hell.

"Take it easy, just breath. An ambulance will be here in a minute."

The familiar voice calmed the panic that had started to fill Tony's mind but he was still confused about what had happened. He looked around as much as he could without moving his head and as he realized he was lying on the basement floor he remembered what had happened.

"Bit me 'gain. Doesn't like meh." He mumbled as his eyes started to slid closed again. A careful tap to the side of his head had him blinking his eyes back open.

Before Gibbs had a chance to respond to the mumbled words, he heard the sound of the sirens and soon there were other noises indicating the arrival of the medics.

"Down here, through the kitchen!" Jethro yelled up to direct the medics to them and soon two med were pounding down the stairs with their equipments.

It took a moment for the EMTs to asses the situation but it wasn't long before the newcomers were lifting the side of the boat enough for Gibbs to slip sturdy blocks under in to keep it from coming down again while they worked on their patient.

Once Tony was freed from the weight pinning him down, it was like a tidal wave of pain was crashing on him. The blood flow returned to his limbs that he hadn't even realized had been numb and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly against the onslaught of agony as the paramedics efficiently but carefully got him pulled enough to the side so that they could roll him on a backboard and snap on a neck brace and do a more throughout assessment of his injuries.

There was a wound on the side of Tony's head where the wood had hit him and one of the medics put a bandage on it while the other made sure there were no immediate threats to their patients health before they moved to transport the Italian into the ambulance.

Gibbs stared at the smear of blood on the floor where his lover's head had been resting just a few minutes ago, but as he heard the medics ask him if he wanted to ride along he snapped out of his revere.

"Lets go." He ordered and helped the men navigate the gurney up the narrow stairs and into the waiting ambulance.

He jumped in the back with Tony and one of the medics and took his partner's hand in his, gently massaging the knuckles with his thumb. Silently doing his best to reassure the man on the gurney that it would be alright.

The ride to the hospital didn't take long, but for Gibbs and Tony it felt like hours. The younger man's body was a mass of pain and that reflected on his face and on the death grip he had on his partner's hand.

Seeing his lover in pain and unable to help made Jethro feel horrible. He was a man of action, when Tony had had the plague, he'd gone out and nailed the people responsible to the wall. This time there was no-one he could point his gun at, and nothing to help ease the pain for his loved one. He could just sit there.

He spared half a mind for listening as the paramedic worked on Tony and asked him questions about what had happened. It was quite obvious that he had taken a hit on the head and so it wasn't surprising that he was a bit groggy, but he did manage to confirm that he'd gone down to the basement as soon as he got home, which had been a few hours before Jethro got out of work. It made Jethro's gut clench to know that his lover had been trapped for a few hours before Gibbs had come home and found him.

Once they arrived at the hospital, the situation didn't improve for Gibbs by much. While Tony was whisked off to an examination room, he was left to wait in the waiting room. Now he wouldn't have to actually see the pain Tony was in, but his mind was only too happy to provide him with images that didn't help his mood any. Finally getting tired of pacing the small waiting area, Gibbs settled in one of the uncomfortable chairs for what he knew would be a long wait.

After an hour and a half of sitting and doing nothing helpful, Jethro was ready to go back and demand someone tell him what was going on with his lover. Luckily he didn't have to as five minutes later a nurse appeared in the waiting room and told him it would be okay to go back to the cubicle where they had situated DiNozzo as they waited for his x-ray and CT results.

"We gave him a painkiller so he's a bit out of it, The doctor will be by as soon as he has a chance to go through the results of the scans." The nurse informed him in a hushed voice as she led him to Tony's bed and pulled a chair from the hallway for him to sit on.

Gibbs thanked the nurse before taking the seat and Tony's hand in his. He noted that the dressing on his partner's head had been replaced with a fresh one, but other than that there were no visible changes as most of Tony's body was hidden from view by a blanket.

"I swear I'm going to childproof the house for you DiNozzo..." Gibbs muttered under his breath, but in reality he wasn't aggravated with the other man. Pissed that he'd gotten hurt in what Jethro was starting to view as their home, and worried. He was also pissed that his boat might need a lot of fixing after this incident. But he wasn't mad at DiNozzo since he knew none of it was really Tony's fault.

Well actually he didn't know that. He had no idea what the other man had been doing in the basement. And how on earth had the boat fallen from the supports? He had built the thing himself, he knew how sturdy the structure was.

Could it be that all of this was somehow Tony's fault? Maybe it wasn't just an accident, he knew sometimes the younger man liked to draw him out from the basement, but did he resent the presence of the boat and having to share Jethro's time with the thing enough to do something about it?

He shook his head.

He didn't want to jump to conclusions so he'd just have to wait and ask Tony.

His musings were interrupted by the arrival of the doctor.

"Well hello, I'm Doctor Sanders, you must be agent Gibbs." The man offered his hand for Gibbs to shake. The loud voice was enough to awaken Tony from his sleep and he looked around groggily before smiling as his eyes settled on Jethro.

"Oh good you're awake Mr. DiNozzo. I have your results here with me. You suffered from two hits to the head but your head scan was clean, though you do have a mild concussion. You have some extensive and deep bruising going all the way from your shoulder to your left leg. Luckily it seems that the pressure put on your shoulder wasn't as great as that on your leg and lower back so your upper back and most likely your whole left side will be painful for a while but there is no serious damage there."

The doctor paused as he noticed his patient's eyelids drooping. He hid a smile as the other man poked the dozing man on the side and he jerked a bit and looked more awake.

Gibbs made a gesture for the doctor to continue, so the man cleared his throat before doing as requested.

"Okay so as I said, your shoulder will be fine but I am prescribing you some muscle relaxants to help with the healing process as it isn't unusual to have bad cramps when the muscles are pressed as yours were for longer periods of time. There is also some bad bruising on your back so the relaxants will also help to prevent your back muscles from bunching up. We also checked your ribs and there is some deep bruising there as well, but no fractures or breaks."

"Your leg however seems to have taken the brunt of the impact and there is a hairline fracture in your left femur. Because the fracture isn't an outright break, I'm unwilling to cast the leg as that seems a bit too extensive. So you should stay off that leg for a few days and you can ice the thigh to reduce the swelling and pain. After that you can start gradually putting some weight on it, but not full weight for two weeks. I think if you follow those instructions the leg should heal just fine without a cast. We'll see how well you can move with crutches and if all goes well and you have someone to look after you for the next 24 hours, we can let you go in a few hours. I'll write you prescriptions for both the muscle relaxants and some painkillers."

Gibbs thanked the doctor after confirming that he would be there to keep an eye on Tony once he was released. Hearing the list of injuries the doctor had sited made Tony's words from earlier come back to his mind and it all made him think that maybe the boat really didn't like Tony.

Looking at Tony's once again sleeping form, Gibbs wondered if the younger man even had a clear recollection on what happened, seeing as the doctor had said he'd been hit on the head twice. Maybe he should have Abby look at the boat and see if she could use her brilliant mind to figure out what had happened in the basement.

Maybe that could also help ease the strange feeling he had in his gut about the whole situation.

_**TBC... **_

_**There is a spider in my ceiling, so please send me reviews so that they'll make my ego grow and then I can reach up there to whack the thing... Logical isn't it? Oh crap there are actually two them now... And I can't even go hide under my bed since I have this weird loft bed thingy... Well I guess I could but then I would kinda end up in my bathroom... Oookay shutting up now. Hope you enjoyed the chappie! **_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I know I suck... *sigh* I'm so sorry about the ultra long wait. Everything hasn't been going to plan lately, but I'm getting back on track. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and a special thank you to Finlaure who is an amazing friend and does her best to make sure my muse is kept inspired by plot bunnies. I contemplated about cutting this fic short and tying everything up with this chapter, but I decided to stick with the plan so there will be at least two more chapters, but I do ask for patience with the updates. I will do my best to get the next chapter up as soon as I can (Hopefully at the end of this week), but schoolwork and real work are also taking my time. (Isn't it annoying when Work interferes with your hobbies? ;D) Anyway, thanks to everyone who are still reading this fic, I promise I will do my damnest not to take this long with future updates! I hope you enjoy the chappie! **_

In the end Tony had to stay at the hospital until the next morning. When one of the nurses had brought in crutches for him to use and helped him on his feet, the younger man's condition had taken an abrupt turn for the worse as his legs buckled and he'd started to throw up.

With Gibbs' help, the nurse managed to wrestle Tony back on the bed before calling for help. As the younger man continued to heave more people came into the room and the doctor ordered to take him back into radiology for another CT to make sure there were no new complications from the concussion.

The scan hadn't showed any changes which was good news, but the nausea worried the doctor enough that he admitted DiNozzo for the night.

The younger man probably would have argued the decision if he hadn't felt like crap which wasn't helped by the fact that Gibbs hadn't been able to stay with him for the night because of the visiting hours being over and the nurses being strict and brave enough to make him follow them.

In the morning, the doctor finally deemed Tony sufficiently recovered to be able to go home as long as someone was staying with him and now he was making his slow and painful escape from the hospital as Jethro helped him from the wheelchair, he'd been forced to suffer to get out of the place, into the other man's waiting car.

It turned out that the doctor had been right the previous night and now Tony felt like crap so maybe it was a good thing the nurses had insisted on a wheelchair, he wasn't sure he would have made it out of the hospital under his own steam seeing as his whole left side was a mass of pain and his leg felt like it had been ran over by a mack truck.

Well not a truck, crushed by a boat really.

The trip to Gibbs' place was spent in silence apart from the older man ordering his companion to wait in the car as they stopped briefly on the way so that Jethro could collect the medications the doctor had ordered.

The ride didn't take long and soon the two men were slowly making their way into the house where Jethro helped his partner into the masted bedroom and through it to the master bath. He knew the muscle relaxants and painkillers would most likely knock Tony out so after letting the other man take care of business, he helped him change into more comfortable clothes.

The process of getting the Italian into a sweatshirt and pants proved to be more painful than either of the men had anticipated. Every movement send a stab of pain from his shoulder to his back and his leg felt like it would fall off any minute.

Finally they got the sweatpants on him, but decided to leave the shirt off, lifting his left arm to get the old shirt off had been painful enough, he really didn't want to wrestle a new shirt on.

Once he was comfortably settled in the bed, Gibbs got the pills for him along with a glass of water and for once Tony didn't offer any protests as he took the offered meds.

Closing his eyes he felt the bed tip as the other man sat down beside him and hew felt a hand gently start carding through his hair. Humming in contentment DiNozzo closed his eyes and smiled tiredly before yawning widely and in a few minutes he was asleep.

It was hours later when Tony started to stir and groaned softly as all his pains and aches made themselves known as the painkillers started to wore off.

As he dragged a hand across his face to rub the sleep from his eyes, he looked around trying to figure out what time it was. One look at the bedside clock made him realize he'd been asleep for most of the day and that the afternoon was well on it's way of turning into an evening.

Taking a more careful look at his surroundings, Tony found no sign of his lovers presence and the sounds coming up the stairs surely weren't made my the older man. Sometimes he swore that the Silver fox was a part cat as he could creep around the house with minimal sound. Whoever was coming up the stairs was obviously truing to be quiet but failing miserably.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was that was lurking in the hallway so when Abby's head appeared in the doorway Tony wasn't really that surprised.

Well he was surprised but not because of the identity of the person, it was the outfit that had him puzzled.

"Abs, why are you wearing one of those God-awful NCIS jumpsuits?"

"Tony, you're awake!" Abby shrieked as she threw herself on the bed next to him and as carefully as she could pulled the man into a hug.

Tony hid the grimace that wanted to surface both because of her loud voice and her placement against his bruised side. He didn't complain though as he patted the goth girl on the back before pulling back enough to really take in her outfit.

She was wearing blue NCIS overalls and on her feet were her usual platform boots.

"What's with the ME's assistant look?" Tony inquired again as he carefully started to lever himself into a sitting position. Seeing the struggle he was having, Abby moved to help while answering the question in her usual roundabout way.

"Well duh! Gibbs had to go run some errands and he wanted me to come Tony-sit for him since you're kinda not in any condition to be alone. He told me what happened and oh my gosh I can't believe you were almost squished by the boat! I mean what are the odds of something like that happening? Anyways The bossman asked me to take a look at the scene and tell him what caused the boat to fall. I haven't really been down there long yet, but let me tell you now, something hinky is going on here mister!"

"Hinky?" Tony asked with a forced smile as he remembered exactly what had happened, yeah either there was something hinky going on or he was losing his marbles. And then a horrible thought came to him as he realized that he hadn't really talked with Jethro after the previous nights incident.

"Abby? How did Gibbs seem when you saw him?" Obviously The goth was too busy getting him his crutches to detect the nervousness in his voice.

"Oh you know, he's a crouch on a good day and this obviously isn't a good day." Gibbs had been more of an bear than usual because he was unnerved to have Tony get hurt in his house and not know what had caused it, to make matters worse he couldn't even stay with his partner to make sure he was doing okay but had to go out to run errands.

But Tony didn't know that.

"Oh crap I knew it. I broke the boat didn't I? The boat is broken and he blames me for it doesn't he?"

Tony put his head in his hands and cursed under his breath, he ignored the pain that his hunched position caused. He should have known better than to go into the basement alone, shouldn't have been there. Now he would have to make amends.

Abby sat down next to him and Tony's head snapped forward from shock as the goth gave him an concussion appropriate head slap.

"First of all, he isn't mad at you, the boat is pretty much intact apart from one missing rib, which in itself is a minor miracle. So you did not break the boat, the boat on the other hand nearly broke _you. _Gibbs knows you didn't do anything you shouldn't have." Her expression turned contemplative as she continued.

"But it is hinky how the boat just fell down, I can't seem to figure it out. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Yeah the boat happened, the thing hates me.." Tony muttered under his breath, forgetting for a moment how good hearing the woman had.

"Boats can't hate you."

"Well this one seems to." Ignoring the sensible side of him that tried to get him to shut up he told Abby all about the weird feelings he was having around the boat and about what he'd felt before the thing had crashed down on him.

Once he was finished Tony looked at the goth who seemed shocked by the things he'd said so he grabbed the crutches and headed into the bathroom to relieve himself while Abby digested the information.

Abby for her part was deep in contemplation, it seemed that Tony's and Gibbs' minds were following the same paths. When Gibbs had told her about what had happened, she'd gotten the impression that the man was holding something back and when she questioned him on it, he'd said that he was probably just getting old and finding meaning in something that had none. He'd also said the same thing that Tony had about the boat probably just not liking DiNozzo though he'd tried to hide what he truly thought about that by making it sound like a joke.

"Well that really does sound like some pretty hinky stuff." The goth exclaimed as soon as he'd returned into the bedroom.

"I know! I'm telling you I'm going crazy! Or maybe I'm so freaking jealous of a damn boat that I unintentionally did something to try and break it. Maybe I need a shrink."

"Or maybe you're not the one who's jealous!"

Tony snorted his opinion of Abby's assessment and headed towards the door so he could head downstairs, he knew he was supposed to rest but damn it he was too keyed up to just lay in bed.

"It's starting to sound like we might be sharing a room in a mental institution soon." He worked his way slowly but steadily towards the stairs and down them, taking his time as not to cause any further damage. He had heard Abby clomp after him and now he could feel her presence behind him, ready to grab him if he so much as wobbled the tiniest bit.

"Well there's only one way to find out, I'm going to go down to continue my investigation that was rudely interrupted when I heard you moving around through the baby monitor."

Tony stopped abruptly at the bottom of the stairs and turned to look at the goth who was the picture of innocence.

"Please tell me you're kidding, you did not have a baby monitor in the bedroom and basement." As Abby just continued to watch him innocently he groaned and turned to continue his way into the kitchen. "What on earth am I thinking, of course you did. "

"Uh-huh. And you know if I hadn't already known you and the bossman were together, the way you were moaning his name in your sleep kinda would have raised some very interesting questions. Actually if you don't mind I might just ask those questions anyway."

"Abby!"

"Okay okay, sheesh." She went past him and pulled a carton of juice from the fridge while Tony was left behind, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

Once he got into the kitchen area he slowly dropped into one of the chairs by the table with a groan. He really should take a painkiller, but he knew those would knock him out and he hadn't yet addressed something Abby had said.

As the goth set a glass of juice in front of him along with a sandwich he looked up and thanked her before taking a bite of the sandwich, only now realizing how hungry he was.

"Are you really thinking of going back down there?" He jerked his head towards the basement door and immediately regretted the action when it pulled on his sore muscles.

She took a glass of juice for herself and sat down on the other side of the table. "Yeah I love a mystery and this definitely qualifies as one."

Tony looked at her in contemplation and as Abby saw the look she started to shake her head violently.

"Oh no way mister! You are not going to A.) Ban me from the basement or B.) Come with me! You're in no shape to be down there and I have orders from the bossman to get to the bottom of the events of the night of the hinkiness."

Tony shrugged his good shoulder and took a drink of his juice.

"I'm not letting you go down there alone and besides I'm beyond bored!" Which wasn't exactly true, he would have liked nothing better then popping one of the painpills and muscle relaxants and going to bed, but if he said as much to Abby she would start her mother hen routine and that was not something Tony wanted right then.

Quickly finishing his sandwich and juice Tony painfully pulled himself up from the chair and headed towards the basement.

"You coming?" He called over his shoulder to the goth who was nervously biting her lip before springing up from her chair and following after him.

"Gibbs is not going to like this." Abby said as she followed after the slowly moving figure.

"What Jethro doesn't know, that won't hurt him." Tony panted out as he willed his body to make the journey down the stairs, maybe this really was a bad idea.

"Oh, he will know, you know him, he knows everything!" Abby exclaimed as she bounced with nervous energy while keeping an eye on Tony's back for any sign that he wasn't as steady as he had been.

Finally after a long walk down they were both standing in the basement, surveying the state of the boat.

Tony whistled as he made his way over to the fallen structure. "You really meant it when you said that it was okay." Apart from one of the planks having fallen from the side of the boat, the thing looked like someone had settled it on the floor with care instead of it having crashed down.

"I obviously make a mighty fine safety pillow."

Abby stood back for a moment before she took a step forward and frowned.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about the bad mojo down here. I don't know why I didn't think about it earlier but it's like someone's watching us and I really really wouldn't want to be down here alone." Abby shivered as somehow the whole basement felt weird and not nearly as warm as it always was when Gibbs was down there with her.

She observed Tony and could see not only the lines of pain around his eyes, but his whole being was screaming that he was uncomfortable being down there, and she was certain that it had nothing to do with his physical injuries.

"You okay?" Abby asked though she already knew what the answer would be.

"I'm fine. What did you find out when you were down here earlier?"

Abby looked at him for a bit more before nodding her head and going into investigation mode.

"Well you told me that the boat was kinda vibrating before it started moving, I noticed scratches on the supports it used to be on and those match with what you told me, but the weird thing is that there's nothing to explain how it could have happened! I mean there have been no earthquakes which like you said would be anyone's first guess in a situation like this, but there's nothing tthat could explain it. The other thing that's weird is the plank that fell from the side, I checked and it's like someone pushed the wooden peck holding it and caused it to fall, it's just too clean and there's no way bossman would have done sloppy enough job on securing it that it could have fallen just because of the crash."

Abby turned to look at him with big distressed eyes.

"Something really isn't right here Tony."

Tony turned his attention back to the boat and rested a hand on top of it, as he felt the familiar feeling of being pushed away that he always got when he touched her, he couldn't agree more with Abby. Something definitely wasn't right, he just hoped they could figure it out before Gibbs would end up getting hurt too.

_**TBC...**_

_***Hides under the bed***_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Just a short chappie for now. I'm not sure how many chapters there will be after this one, maybe two or three. Well anyways I hope you enjoy and thank you to everyone who has reviewed or put this fic on alert or favorites list. **_

When he came home there were a lot of different scenarios in his head for what he might find when he got there. Some of the things he envisioned were plausible, some really farfetched. But for some reason catching his injured lover in the basement where he had no business in being, didn't surprise him nearly as much as it probably should have. In fact he was pretty impressed that the man had not only dared to go down there after what happened last time but had also managed to get there despite the fact that he must have been feeling pretty stiff and the crutches were a hell to maneuver in the narrow stairs.

Being impressed did not however override the concern he felt, which unfortunately manifested itself in the form that Gibbs was most comfortable with expressing.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing!"

He probably shouldn't have just barked the words out like that from the stairs, but he really would have liked to come home to see his partner safely in bed, resting and recuperating and not doing what he always did by neglecting to take care of himself.

As it was he did bark the words which startled the two people in question and had Abby not had such fast reflexes, Tony would have ended up in a heap on the floor when he accidentally put weight on his injured leg while turning around to face the stairs.

The pissed of look was gone in the same flash it took him to rush down the stairs and make sure his idiotically pigheaded lover didn't manage to hurt himself further.

Okay so maybe he still was a bit pissed off.

"Bossman! You're home!" Abby squeaked as Jethro appeared by Tony's other side and helped the younger man right himself.

"Yes I'm home but it seems that I should have been back a lot earlier to stop you two from getting one of your master ideas." The look in his eyes made Abby swallow nervously but since Tony was too busy trying to breath through the pain of his stumble, he took notice of it.

"Well Jeth, you did tell Abby to investigate-" Tony panted out through still clenched teeth while gratefully leaning most of his weight on his solid partner.

"The operative word being I told _Abby. You_ on the other hand shouldn't even be up." The reprimand was clear in the tone used to deliver the words but years had taught Tony that the man was all bark and no bite so he ignored the tone.

"Well I'm not really up, more like I came down.." The laugh was strained and more like a gasp than anything. But the sound made Gibbs decide that this was not the time now a place to do this, first medicate his man, get him to bed and then kick his ass.

"Abby, go get DiNozzo's meds. " Jethro ordered as he helped Tony over to the stairs and lowered the pained man to sit on the second step from the bottom, thinking that he really needed to get at least one actual chair in the basement.

"Awww, this really a 'back to last names?' situation" Tony asked as the pain receded back to a dull ache and he could actually muster up a smile that he shot up at his hovering lover.

"Just hope I don't count this as a situation that causes you to end up in the dog house."

"You don't have a dog house."

"My point exactly."

The familiar banter was interrupted by Abby's return and the resulting fussing as she plied Tony with painkillers and water, both which the man gratefully took. The goth also brought his muscle relaxants, but those he refused being adamant that he didn't need them.

"DiNozzo take the pills!" Gibbs didn't have any patience for niceties, he just wanted the other man medicated and then out of the basement. Abby he would deal with later, though he really wasn't angry with the goth.

Recognizing that he had no possible way of winning the particular argument, Tony took the pills shoved at him and swallowed them down with a grimace.

"We'll you'd better help me up before those things kick in or I'm spending the night down here." That prospect didn't sound at all appealing to Tony so he gave the older man his best wounded puppy look which turned into a smile when Gibbs rolled his eyes before motioning Abby to follow them up while he himself took the job of supporting his lover up the stairs.

Once they'd gotten the momentum going, Gibbs decided it best to continue the slow going all the way back to the bedroom though Tony tried his best to get the other man to deposit him on the couch in the living room.

Though when they got into the master bedroom and Tony was lowered onto the soft surface, he had to admit to himself that it did felt wonderful to lie down. Not that he was going to tell his partner that.

Tony closed his eyes ans sighed as his abused body started to relax and he was just about ready to settle down for a nap.

"Okay so now would you two explain what you were doing when I got back?"

Well there went that plan, Tony thought with a groan as he tried to think of something to say that wouldn't cause Jethro to want to kill him.

Luckily he didn't have to say anything as Abby started to explain her findings to Gibbs. Everything went well until she started to subtly hint that there might be something seriously wrong with the boat itself.

The look Gibbs threw her was enough to have her backpedaling and keeping to concrete facts.

"So it was a freak accident?" Jethro asked for comfirmation though for some reason his gut was telling him that it wasn't that simple.

Abby was disappointed that her silver fox obviously wasn't seeing what she and Tony was, but one look from Tony quieted any protest she might have had.

"Yep, Tony was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The nod Gibbs gave at the explanation made her sigh quietly in defeat. She quickly said her goodbyes before giving both men a kiss on their cheeks and made her way out now that Gibbs was back and her job was done in the house. That didn't mean however that she was done yet, she had some more investigating to do.

Once Abby was gone Gibbs sat down on the edge of the bed next to his partner who looked sleepy and apprehensive, an interesting combo to say the least.

"Get some rest Tony, I'll kick your ass later." He ordered while soothing the other man to sleep by petting his hair.

Once the younger man started to snore peacefully, Jethro placed a small kiss on his forehead before making his way down to the kitchen where he got a cup of coffee which he took with him to the basement.

He sat on the workbench and looked at the fallen boat while sipping his hot coffee. For a long while he just sat there in contemplation as he tried to figure out his next move.

He didn't really believe in coincidences nor freak accidents, so he was sure something else was going on, but that only left even more implausible alternatives. He knew it wasn't Tony's fault, the man most likely had done nothing to cause the accident. But if he hadn't then who or what had?

He was also having trouble figuring out why couldn't he let go of the words Tony had said the previous day about the boat hating him. And why did he have the weirdest feeling that maybe there was a grain of truth in that statement.

"What the heck is going on in here?" He contemplated out loud, not really expecting an answer, but being disappointed anyway when none was forthcoming.

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Hiya again! I'm here with the next chapter of the ficcie! I'm thinking I probably should have done better with this one, but for some reason this is how this turned out. I still hope you enjoy the fic and I want to thank everyone who is still reading and who has reviewed. If this chapter makes no sense, please let me know, I do enjoy getting good reviews, but I would like to know if it's complete crap too :) Hope you enjoy the chappie! If you need me, I'll be under the bed with my armadillo ;)**_

The next weeks went by fast, and without any talk about the incident with the boat.

The more time passed, the more convinced Tony was that he'd been silly to think there was something hinky going on in the first place and Gibbs seemed willing to drop the subject though his gut was not appeased by the decision to not find out what was going on.

Abby didn't like it either. She'd done a lot of research on spirits and all things supernatural that might explain the weird vibe that she'd sensed in Gibbs' basement, but every time she approached Tony about it the man told her to drop it and not to say anything to Jethro about it.

When she didn't let the subject go like DiNozzo asked he started avoiding her. Abby didn't like being avoided.

But she understood it in a way. Tony was showing classic signs of denial as he wished that by ignoring it, the problem would go away. She didn't like it but she understood, he didn't want to alienate Gibbs by telling him about his feelings.

But the bossman she didn't understand. Abby never would have guessed how willing the man was to believe that the accident was just that, an accident. For a man who didn't believe in coincidences he sure seemed to be comfortable with thinking that it was just bad luck that Tony got caught under the boat when the supports failed.

Well she always did think that if you tried to figure out men you'd end up with a splitting headache and nothing more.

But the fact that the men seemed ready to go on living their lives without the mystery of the basement, didn't mean she would have to do the same.

So she started planning.

It took two months to actually find a perfect time to execute her plan. She'd seen how much of a toll the whole secrecy thing was taking on Tony so she wanted to resolve everything sooner, but with Tony healing and then Gibbs spending a lot of time working on the boat, there never was time for it.

But now was her time.

Everything was ready, she knew both Gibbs and Tony would be held up at work for at least three more hours if not more and she herself had finished her work so she was free to go.

First she headed for her friend's place where everything she needed was waiting for her.

The next stop was Gibbs' house.

Sneaking into the bossman's house sent a shiver down her spine and she felt apprehension even though she knew there was no way that the man had gotten home. Getting into the dark house she looked constantly over her shoulder as if waiting for Gibbs to bust her.

The process of getting there was slow, but when she was finally standing in the basement with her bag she felt giddy with her success and though the atmosphere felt heavy with tension she couldn't help but let out a relieved little giggle.

But then she remembered why she was there and the thought sobered her immediately.

Abby went through her back and pulled out a small bottle that she unscrewed before walking around the small space and sparkling the clear liquid around and making sure the boat got it's fair share of the water. Holy water to be exact.

She wasn't sure what was going on in the basement, but a spirit was her best bet, a mean spirit at that. So she had contacted a friend who had given her everything she needed to get ride of any possible ghosts.

Tony hadn't been too keen on her idea of doing anything, which is the reason he wouldn't know about the ritual until it was done.

After sprinkling the holy water around, she pulled out small pouches from her bag that were filled with herbs and rock salt. A special mix made by her friend. She placed the things in stragetic places around the basement before pulling out another bottle of holy water, this one she used to make symbols on the floor and walls of the space. All the while she worked, she mumbled words of latin, the words had nothing to do with the things she was doing, she was actually just reciting a poem she'd learned a long time ago, but anyone who has watched ghost movies knows you're supposed to mumble lating while you did these kinds of rituals.

Once she was done with everything she stood next to the boat and bit her lip in concentration as she tried to sense if there were any changes in the room.

She was pretty disappointed, usually when people tried to get rid of spirits in tv and movies, the spirits would fight back, this one seemed to be happy just laying low.

Though if she was perfectly honest, she was more than happy that there had been no sign of any malevolence spirits.

Abby pulled out her cellphone and sent Tony a text where she informed him that the deed was done and the basement should be violence free from now on.

If one would have been able to glare at someone over a text, the answering message would have contained a mother of all text glares. For a minute Abby was afraid that she'd over stepped a line, but it wasn't even a minute later when her cell beeped again and she couldn't help but smile as the glare had changed into grudging gratefulness.

_'Thanks Abs, I'm not sure if it works. But thank you.'_

She glanced once more down at the basement before she left the house, hoping that what she'd done would be enough to not only give Tony some peace of mind but to get rid of the weird vibe that seemed to have been in the basement.

She was still smiling when she closed the door to the house behind herself.

When Tony and Gibbs got back home from work both men were feeling drained but both knew they wouldn't be able to relax before they had some time to wind down a bit.

After a quick meal of the previous days leftovers, the men were standing in the kitchen drinking their beverages of choice, coffee for Gibbs and tea for Tony. Jethro glanced towards the basement door before looking at his partner.

Since the accident with the boat, Tony had barely came down with him when he went to work on his lady. Every time he would go down to the boat, Tony would either come down for a moment before excusing himself to go watch tv and relax in a more DiNozzo way, or he would say he had something to do at his own apartment and then they would both spent a lonely night alone. Those were the nights Gibbs got most done on his project.

Those nights were getting more frequent and Jethro was afraid that this might end up like one of those nights if he went to unwind by working on the wood.

But since getting the text from Abby, Tony felt more daring and he smiled at his lover before taking his hand and leading the bemused man down the stairs and into the older man's sanctuary.

At first Tony felt nervous going down there, but the further he got, the more he started to relax and bit by bit he began to believe that maybe the goth had really been right with her theory about a mean spirit.

Tony couldn't help the smile that spread on his face when he felt nothing but calm while he watched his partner work on the boat. Jethro didn't understand what had caused the change, but since it meant having his partner near him again, he wouldn't question it. Maybe the churning in his gut would ease now that it seemed that everything was returning to normal.

The men spent a quiet evening in the basement before heading to bed when they both felt relaxed enough to actually get some sleep. That night both men rested better than they had in weeks.

But not everything was peaceful that night.

The boat sighed and though of how stupid the girl was who'd been by earlier thinking that she could just get rid of her so easily.

She was actually a bit amused by the lengths she'd gone, it was almost a pity that it was all a wasted effort.

Well not wasted exactly.

Now that her competition thought she was out of the game, she could plot in peace and abide her time. Oh she would have her Jethro back ,she would show the other man that he'd been wrong in trying to come between her and her man.

She was seething as she thought about how her first attempt of getting rid of the man hadn't worked.

But she would succeed.

The man would pay for trying to take her place in Jethro's life.

And she had all the time in the world to plan his demise, she just had to lay low and no one would be the wiser until it would be too late.

TBC...

**_The next chapter will be a bit longer, I promise!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: I officially suck! Well not really but I do have to apologize once more for taking so long with the update and for the shortness of said update... I am in the middle of writing my thesis and whatever free time I have had from work has either been spent working on the thesis or trying to get everything ready for my upcoming exchange this fall. I never knew how much stuff I'd have to do to get to USA... Well now my thesis is in a better shape and I only have my visa interview to go before I'm cleared to go to Kansas this fall, so it's all looking up and hopefully that means that I'll have more time for fics. This chapter is pretty much just to let you all know I'm still alive and haven't abandoned the fic. The next chapter will be the last one so just a bear with me here! Thank you for all the reviews, all the comments I have gotten have been absolutely wonderful! **_

Tony had a smile on his face when he rushed out of his car and up the drive way into the house that was now officially his home. It had taken months but finally he and Jethro had felt comfortable enough with their relationship that the older man had asked his lover to move in with him and a week later all of Tony's stuff had found their way either into storage or into the house that they both now called home.

That had been a week earlier and now was a day of a big first for them both. They were taking a vacation, together. Their first one as a couple.

It was common knowledge that neither of them were big on taking time off from work, so it was a big deal for them both to ask for two weeks off, but since all of the team had the time on the books, it was decided that the whole team would be off so there was no need to arrange for temporary agents to fill their slots as it was just a case of another team taking up the job of MCRT for the two weeks.

And that day was now upon them and the two men had made plans and Tony was giddy with excitement, finally he would get to see how Jethro got the boats out of the basement!

So yes, The Dark Lady was finished at last. Gibbs had recruited an old buddy of his to help with some of the work, but no one was allowed to help with the finishing of the boat, Jethro had an specific image in mind of what he wanted the boat to be like, and he wanted to make it happen.

Quickly putting away his gun and changing out of his work clothes, Tony went down to the basement. He expected to see his partner down there getting the boat ready for transfer, but to his surprise the room was empty.

Really empty, meaning there was no Gibbs and no boat.

After gaping at the room for a good few minutes, he rushed up the stairs and out back where he saw the boat safely on the trailer with Jethro finishing with securing a tarp over it.

"You sneaky old bastard!" Tony shouted before pouting and crossing his arms over his chest as he slowly advanced on the other man.

Jethro just grinned and greeted his lover by doing his best to kiss the pout away.

"Bill helped me to get her out of the basement while you were finishing up at work." He explained referring to his buddy who had helped build the boat.

"But I wanted to know how you do it." The pout that had melted under the sweet kiss was now back in full force and Tony was dangerously close to stomping his foot like an annoyed kid.

"Look," Jethro started as he pried one of Tony's hands into both of his and pulled the reluctant man towards the boat. "I promise I'll make it up to you with the next one."

As Tony studied his partner he saw an almost haunted look in Jethro's eyes so with a small, mostly fake, huff of annoyance he decided to let it go and just enjoy the time off with his man.

"Sooo, where are we taking her?" The grateful look Gibbs shot him made him glad that he'd let the subject go.

"I already told you yesterday, we'll see where she takes us." He gave Tony a wink before pulling him in for another kiss and then walking towards the house after making sure the tarp was well secured over the boat.

"C'mon it's time to get something to eat and get packed. I want to get an early start in the morning."

Neither of the men even glanced back at the boat as Tony caught up with Jethro and they entered the house and neither felt the anticipation that was mounting in her. She was finally free of the basement, and soon she would be free of her rival as well.

TBC...

_**See I told you it's short... more of an teaser than a chapter really ;D But I'll make it up to you with the grand finale. Just be patient, I'm trying to get it done next week, I have to get my first raw draft of my thesis sent to my teacher by thursday, but after that I'll have time to write the rest of this fic ;) **_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Okay so I know I said that there would be only one more chapter but seeing how this worked out, I feel it's best to cut the final chapter in two and then I'll write an epilogue that will be posted at the end of the last part, also this way I can post this now and get a few days to write the rest without making you wait for so long for an update :D My logic is always interesting ;) Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love hearing from readers and the comments have been great :) Gibbs may seem a bit out of character but I hope it's not too bad... **_

The next morning before even the sun had time to rise properly, the two men were trudging down the driveway with their last bags, Tony grumbling all the way about the early wake up.

"You know if you'd prefer I could go alone and leave you here to get more beauty sleep." They both knew that the threat was idle but still it was enough to stop the grumbling for a while.

The drive to the marina was spent with the men engaged in conversation about their plans for their vacation and other everyday stuff. For once Gibbs was forced to drive carefully and according to the speed limit since the heavy boat they were pulling after them was affecting the behavior of their vehicle and the last thing Jethro wanted was to get into an accident.

So the drive that normally would have taken them less than two hours, now took them well over that.

But neither man was bothered by that. Jethro was content as he imagines getting the boat on the water and spending some quality time with his lover and Tony... well Tony was just plain nervous. He was looking forward to the time with Gibbs but for some reason he still felt a little flutter in his gut that he contributed as being the result of not having sailed that much before and being afraid of messing it up.

Once they would get on board the boat Tony was sure the feeling would ease.

Hopefully.

Getting the boat to water was easier than he'd expected, but getting on board was another matter altogether. Jethro was the first one to climb onto the deck and Tony handed him the bags from the pier.

But when it was time for him to follow his partner, it turned out not to be so easy. Every time he put his foot on the edge of the deck, the boat would rock back a bit making him take a step back. Finally after the second aborted attempt at trying to get on the boat, Tony decided to just go for it and almost jumped over the gap between the boat and the pier. Just as his foot hit the edge of the deck the boat rocked once more and he would have started flailing to stay on board if it hadn't been for Gibbs who took a hold of his hand and pulled him into his arms.

"Well hello there." Tony smiled as he wrapped his own arms around his partner and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Thanks for the catch."

"Anytime." Jethro answered with a smile before pulling the younger man with him.

"C'mon lets put our stuff away and get going."

It didn't take the men long to unpack their stuff and the groceries, the most trouble was trying to navigate the small inside of the boat that held only a small area for the bed with few drawers for their clothes and a small galley.

Though both knew it would be a tight fit, they still bumped into each other in every turn while unpacking. After the first few accidental bumps it seemed that the contacts were a little less accidental and a little longer.

"All done Captain!" Tony said with a grin and a salute as he once more bumped his hip against the other man's.

"Well then, let's get sailing.." Jethro said as he made his way towards the steps.

"Lead the way." Tony agreed as he followed with a more sedate pace as the rocking of the boat made his step falter a few times, obviously it would take a while for him to find his sea legs, though Gibbs obviously had no such problems.

"They probably get sea legs installed in the marines..." Tony muttered as he clumsily made his way up to the deck.

Obviously Gibbs heard him since there was a snort from the older man before a hand connected with the back of his head as soon as he cleared the steps.

"Hey!" Tony yelped at the contact "I'll have you know that I'm on vacation and that-" He pointed an accusing finger at the other man "is considered domestic abuse."

"You thinking of pressing charges?" Jethro questioned mock seriously while getting ready to set sail, though in reality they would be using the motor more than the sails to get out of the marina.

Tony tilted his face and tapped his chin with a finger in contemplation. "Well maybe I could be persuaded to drop it."

The almost grin on Jethro''s face made him smile and when the other man turned and pulled him into his arms the smile turned into a full blown grin.

"And what kind of persuasion did you have in mind?"

"Oh I'm a very reasonable guy so I'm sure we can find a solution that'll work."

"I'll let you steer the boat." Gibbs offered as he pressed a kiss to Tony's cheek.

"Oh you're on, I've always wanted to drive a boat!"

"Steer DiNozzo, it's not a damn car. Go untie the boat from the pier so we can get going. I'll take care of the motor.

"Ay ay Cap'n!" Tony threw him a salute before going to untie the rope that was holding the boat next to the pier and swiftly bundled it up.

As the boat started to more away from the harbor, Tony made his way over to Jethro who was carefully navigating around the poles sticking in the water, marking the safe passage out of the area.

"So, you got any hunch yet where she's taking us?" Tony asked him as he reached down into the cooler they'd left on the deck and pulled out a bottle of water. He took a long drink of the cool liquid before passing the bottle to his lover who was gazing at the horizon.

"Nope." He answered with a lopsided grin as he took the offered bottle.

"Fine." Tony sighed in exasperation. "Keep your secret." He couldn't resist sticking out his tongue before turning around and going to check if there was anything that needed to be done down below.

Jethro just shook his head fondly at his exasperated lover. In reality he did have a destination in mind but it would take them a few days to get there as they would have to find a place to get something to eat other than the provisions they'd packed with them. Then he'd let Tony in on his plans, but until then they could just enjoy the journey.

But Jethro greatly underestimated his partner's curiosity. That very night after they'd found a place to anchor down, take a swim and eat a light dinner, the two were sitting on the deck just looking at the stars. Tony rested most of his weight on Jethro as he let his feet hang from the side of the boat and occasionally he dipped his toes into the cool water. With one hand he drew lazy patterns on Gibbs' arm while with the other he held closed the blanket they'd draped over themselves to keep at bay the evening breeze.

"So," He started in a quiet voice. "Where are we really going?"

Jethro sighed as he moved so that he could look at his partner's face though they were still sitting close together.

Seeing the move and hearing the sigh, Tony was prepared to take back the question but before he could open his mouth, the look on the other man's face stopped him.

"I should have figured you wouldn't let it go." There was a tired smile on Jethro's face as he gathered his thoughts. He wasn't a talkative man, but what he wanted to say was important and he knew a one word explanation wouldn't cut it.

"I noticed after the accident you had with the boat that you haven't really been down to the basement much." He frowned a bit at the beginning as it wasn't the way he had envisioned telling Tony this, but in for a penny in for a pound.

"I think I missed you. I figured that as long as I was working on this boat, there would be a distance between us." At the guilty look on Tony's face he knew that his gut had been right about the reason for why the other man hadn't been to the basement much.

"So I asked Bobby to help me with her so I could finish her and then when she was done, I realized that this boat would never be our boat, I made it for Shan and I know for you it would always have a negative feel. So I want us to built a new boat, one that will be just for us and that we will built together from the beginning. That one will have good memories for both of us and hopefully there won't be no painful ones attached to it. "

It was more words than Tony had ever heard Gibbs string together at one time and he was touched that the other man knew him so well, he also knew his partner well enough that he knew the boat was bringing up a lot of bittersweet memories for the other man and though he'd hoped that getting her finished would bring come closure for him but Tony knew it hadn't been enough.

"What about the lady?" He asked indicating the boat they were currently on though he had a suspicion about the plans Jethro had for her.

"I needed to finish her and take her out to the water for my girls, but now I realize that 's all it was. She was always going to be Shannon's boat and I can't keep her and I can't give her away. So now we sail her to this small bay a few days way ahead, there's a small cabin on the shore that's owned by my friend. He has a boat there we can use to get back to the marina we left from so we'll head to his cabin, spent a few days there and sail back on his boat. For The Dark Lady this is the first and the last voyage. The area there is secluded enough for it to be a safe place for her to be burnt there."

At those words it felt as if a shock had run through the boat and both men were worried that something was wrong, but after the first shudder there was nothing so both men relaxed.

"Are you sure you want to do that Jethro?" _Are you ready to let go of them? I know how much they mean to you. _The words were unspoken but still Jethro understood the look of concern and uncertainty in the other man's eyes and he couldn't help but smile at the way they seemed to understand each other.

Placing a kiss on the other man's lips Gibbs replied. "I'm sure." _It's okay, I'm ready._ "What do you say we get some sleep?"

Tony studied Jethro for a second before nodding as he found nothing but honesty in his expression.

The two men made sure the boat was well secured and the lights were on so that any passers by would know they were there, before going to bed.

But the Dark Lady had no intentions of resting, her time had just been cut short and she needed to act faster than she anticipated. But no matter, she could do it. She could get rid of Tony and then there would only be Jethro and her and her Jethro would never try to get rid of her then, after all once Tony was gone, he would be so happy to have The lady with him and all the memories of Shannon that she brought with her that they would have much more good times ahead of them.

But before that she had two days left to go find an opening. Two days and then it would all be right again.

TBC...

_**The next chapter will really be the last one, I have it drafted already so I just need to get it done and get the epilogue written. **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Finally it's here! The last chapter for your enjoyment. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or put this fic or me on alert or on their favorites list, I'm very happy you guys stuck with me and this fic even though it is one weird piece of writing. At the end I've attached the lyrics that inspired the song if you're interested, they don't belong to me but are the person's who wrote them, I'm just borrowing them for fun. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy!**_

Tony couldn't sleep.

The past five days had been amazing, he and Jethro had enjoyed their time on the boat as much as they could, they swam, fished and just relaxed while drifting closer to their destination, neither feeling the need to hurry their journey. So though Gibbs had originally thought that it would take them only tow days to reach the cabin, it had taken them closer to five.

And now they were spending their last night on the boat before reaching the bay they were heading for. The weather had been beautiful for the first days but for the last one it had been too hot and oppressive, a sure sign of a brewing storm.

The storm had hit them after bed time and Gibbs had been sleeping for the whole time while Tony just couldn't rest while the boat rocked with the heavy waves.

He tried to think about the past days and closed his eyes. He had really enjoyed the time they'd spent with Jethro, it would have been even better if there hadn't been the few little almost accidents along the way, like the other day when they were swimming and the boat almost ran him over though they were sure they'd secured it well. Or the time before that when Tony had been trapped in the small bathroom when the door refused to open and it felt like he was running out of air.

Even Gibbs had started to grow weary after the incidents and he'd implied that he might share the opinion that there was something hinky with the boat, though they had never talked about it.

A loud rumble snapped him out of his thoughts and his eyes blinked open at the sound of the heavy thunder. He really really hated the storm, ever since he was a kid, he'd hated the thunder. It wasn't rational especially when it was the loud sound rather than the lightning itself that caused the feeling. But obviously Gibbs had no trouble sleeping through it.

Or maybe that wasn't accurate, Tony thought as Jethro pulled him closer and pressed a kiss to his neck.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" The words were whispered in his ear with a tone that was far more awake than Tony thought possible seeing as the other man had just woken up.

"Sorry if I woke you." Tony whispered back. "Go back to sleep."

The presence behind him snuggled even closer and caused him to shiver as Jethro's breath ghosted on his skin. "I will as soon as you answer my question. "

"Just need to hit the head." Tony lied quickly and extracted himself from the other man before getting up and winching when thunder rumbled once more though now the sound came from further away instead of straight above.

Gibbs mumbled something back to him but it was mostly intelligible as he was mostly asleep by then, clutching Tony's discarded pillow.

Tony smiled at the sight and waited a bit until he was sure that the other man was really asleep before heading to the galley. He didn't want to take the risk of waking his partner by getting back in bed and seeing as there was very little chance of him falling asleep anyway, he'd just end up keeping his older partner awake as well.

Taking a bottle of water from the cooler, Tony leaned back against the small counter and took a sip of the cool drink, listening to the sound of the raging storm.

Though he really didn't like thunder and all the rumbling, but in a way it was fascinating to watch the flashes in the distance. As he listened closer, the clearer it became that the clouds were moving away and taking the storm with them as the rumbles grew fewer and quieter though the boat still moved with the violent waves that would surely take more time to calm.

Taking another drink fomr the bottle Tony was surprised to notice that the thing was already empty, he must have been standing there sipping the water, lost in thought for longer than he would have figured.

Tossing the bottle away he decided to head up on the deck as he still didn't feel like sleeping and the worst weather had already passed.

It was still raining as he stepped outside but it wasn't bad enough to drive him inside. Occasional flash still illuminated the dark night, but the rumble was now far away and faint strips of light were starting to appear on the sky from the other direction as dawn grew closer.

If it hadn't been for the still big waves that rocked the boat, it would have been a pretty calm moment.

Taking a deep breath he inhaled the fresh air and he shivered slightly in the cool night. He pulled out one of the jackets they kept in a small bench on the deck for just this reason and put it on. The rain was easing but it wasn't over yet.

Drawing the jacket closed Tony crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the boat. His eyes traveled over the sleek lines of her and he watched in fascination as the waves lapped the sides. Suddenly his eyes were drawn to the post where they tied the rope that was supposed to keep the boat stationed and a frown marred his face. The post had nothing tied to it now.

He made his way carefully over to it to make sure and like he'd suspected, the rope had slipped off and now the boat wasn't secured to anything. It was most likely sheer luck that had caused the boat to stay in place and not drift away.

The wind was starting to pick up again and Tony knew they needed to secure the boat again so he turned around intending to go and get Jethro so they could get it done together when all of a sudden the boat rocked violently making him trip and very nearly be thrown off the deck, the only thing keeping him on it being the post the rope had been secured to that he'd managed to get a hold of.

Shaking slightly from the adrenaline rush of the stumble, Tony slowly and carefully got back up. There was a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach as well as a strange feel in the air. It was like the air was thick with some kind of energy, like a charge that was accumulating and ready to be unleashed in one form or another.

Shaking his head at his own thoughts Tony turned once more to go and get his partner when the luck seemed to run out and the boat started to move away from the place where they'd decided to leave it for the night. Yelling for Jethro the younger man took a step forwards just as the Dark Lady did another big dip which again caused him to trip but this time there was nothing to get a hold of and with a yell her plan succeeded like she'd hoped as Tony fell overboard into the dark water that swallowed him as soon as he hit it's cold surface.

Breaking the surface Tony took in a deep breath grunting when a wave threw his body against an underwater rock. Grimacing at the throbbing the impact caused in his leg and back though he knew no serious damage had been done and he would at worst have a few bruises in a while.

The waves were big enough that it took a lot of effort to keep his head above the water but he hadn't been an athlete for nothing and though he wasn't in the shape he'd been in high school he was still in a pretty good shape but still it was tiring to fight the force of the waves.

Quickly using one hand to wipe his eyes to see, Tony looked for the boat and was happy to note that it hadn't moved far from him and he quickly started to swim towards it wondering if Jethro had any idea of anything being amiss.

Though the distance wasn't big, getting to the boat seemed to take forever and the more he swam the more exhausted Tony became. Finally he reached the side of the boat just as she turned in a way that Tony was sure was not caused by the raging water but as if she was purposely turning away from him to keep from getting to safety.

Trying desperately to get a hold of something so he would be able to get back onboard, Tony reached up but a wave pushed him down below the surface.

He again broke the surface while gasping for breath and reached up. He was getting ready to give up when he heard someone yell his name and a minute later there were fingers touching his own before a hand grasped his tightly.

Jethro had obviously heard his yell and came up to investigate what had caused the sound and with his help Tony managed to get back onto the boat.

Panting heavily the younger man lied on the deck for a bit trying to calm his breathing before Jethro took a hold of him and helped him up and supported him towards the steps that would get them inside.

"Are you okay? What the heck happened?" Jethro demanded to know as they started the short treck towards their destination.

They were at the top of the stairs when Tony opened his mouth to say that he was fine when the boat did another violent dip and caused both of them stumble and Jethro to release his supporting grip on his partner.

The boat was moving with the waves as she tried to again shake off the man she hated, but suddenly a big rock glimpsed from the water and before anyone could react they hit the sharp edge of it and the boat jerked to a violent stop.

The sudden movement cause both men to stumble again and while Jethro got a hold of the railing, Tony had no such luck and though he scrambled to get a hold of something, he ended up falling down the steps into the galley.

"Tony!" Jethro tried to follow his partner but the Lady obviously had other plans.

By now there was water gushing into the small bedroom from s tear that had appeared when they hit the rock and if she was going down, then so was this man who had tried to take Jethro away from him.

So when Gibbs tried to get to his lover the mast gave a creak and there was barely enough time for him to get out of the way before the mast fell across the entrance to the boat.

"Tony! Can you hear me?" He yelled over the sound of the rain and wind as he crawled to the half hidden entrance and listened for the answer feeling dread fill him when nothing was forthcoming.

"Tony? Tones!" He called again but when again there was no answer he started to work on moving the mast, it wasn't too heavy but it was long and somehow lodged so moving it was difficult. Pausing in his efforts Gibbs thought for a second and after realizing that he didn't have his phone with him so he couldn't call for help and the boat had taken a big enough hit that it might very well sink, he rushed towards the small bench where they kept their jackets and other small things. It took him a minute of digging before he found the small red pistol and with a prayer he aimed it to the sky and pulled the trigger. A red flare shot out from the gun and rose to the sky so that others would know they needed help.

Having given the signal, Jethro rushed back to his earlier task. With strength born from adrenaline and fear he slowly got the obstacle moved enough that he could see into the galley.

The sight caused his heart to freeze and in the dim lighting he saw his lover lying at the bottom of the stairs on his back with water already lapping around him. Obviously the boat was torn badly enough that the water was flowing steadily in and even as he watched, Gibbs could see the water level rising so he knew he needed to get to his partner fast as the other man appeared to be unconscious and wasn't reacting to him calling his name.

Fearing the worst, Gibbs put every ounce of his strength into moving the beam blocking his way and with a creak it moved enough that he was able to squeeze to the steps and get down to the galley.

He knelt next to his partner and felt for a pulse. Feeling the strong thumping under his fingers caused a wave of relief rush over him, but he knew they needed to get out.

"Tony c'mon wake up! No time to sleep right now." he shook the other man's shoulder and was rewarded with a groan from the man and a flutter of his eyelids.

"That's it, open your eyes for me." Raising a hand to his aching head, Tony blinked his eyes open and squinted up at the other man. "Is she trying to kill me again?" He whispered in a hoarse voice before clearing his throat and sitting up with Jethro's help.

"Maybe." Gibbs allowed wondering if there was some truth behind the thought. "We need to get out of here and off the boat before it sinks." He started to help the other man up and towards the steps when the boat groaned and jerked once again causing them to stumble. Tony hissed as he put weight on his left foot and his ankle gave way under him and he fell on his knees.

"Well shit." He grimaced as he reached up and again with his partners help got back up and they tried once more to move towards the steps but the boat moved again causing the same thing to happen.

The water was rising and by now their ankles were covered and it seemed that the water was rising faster as it crept up their legs.

Jethro got them both ready again and once more they tried to get up the steps but the movements of the boat were getting more violent and they both fell back before they managed to climb even one step.

"She won't let us leave." Tony whispered dejectedly as he sat in the water and let his head drop to rest on against the wall. "She really wants to kill us."

As if testing the theory Jethro took a step towards the stairs and with little effort managed to get halfway up causing Tony to laugh humorlessly.

"Correction: she wants to kill _me_. You should go while you can."

"Don't be stupid Tony." He was starting to believe that there really was something on the boat that wanted to get rid of his partner but he was damned if he'd let as pile of wood win. He now knew his gut had been right in thinking that something had been wrong but he just wished it wasn't something so insane.

"C'mon Jeth! You don't need to die because of me!" Tony was frustrated beyond belief, he didn't want to die but even less he wanted Jethro to die and it had became obvious that somehow The Dark Lady was going to make sure he didn't get out of this alive.

Gibbs was thinking furiously, he needed a distraction. He didn't know how any of this worked but maybe if he caused some sort of commotion then he'd be able to sneak Tony up the stairs.

He spotted one of their oil lanterns on the wall and quickly made his way to it. Pulling out his waterproof matchbook he lit the lantern before going to another cabin and taking out the oil meant for the lanterns.

He went into the sleeping area and poured the water over the bed and everything he could. After doing that he came back to his partner who had been watching his proceedings with confusion.

"You ready to go?" When the other man looked even more puzzled Jethro quirked an eyebrow which relaxed only when Tony nodded his head hesitantly and allowed himself to be pulled up.

With one deep breath Gibbs threw the lantern into the sleeping area so that the glass shattered and in a moment the fire from it started to spread.

If she could have the boat would have shrieked in betrayal and pain, but she could do no such thing and as the fire started to consume her she could do nothing to stop the men from slowly climbing out of the galley and jumping into the water that hadn't yet calmed.

Even the rain that still fell offered no help to the boat as the flames quickly spread into all the surfaces that were above water while the two men who had saved them selves from the inferno were doing their best to swim further from the wreck before the fuel tank would explode.

When the inevitable happened and the tank blew up, the shock wave hit them both hard as they hadn't gotten far since the waves were tying to push them back the way they were coming, but after some fumbling both men got back to the surface from being pushed down and together they threaded water while they tried to figure out which direction was closest to land.

The only had to float there for a few minutes before they heard the sound of a horn and as they turned they saw a small motor boat heading their way with a beam of light sweeping the water and finally locating them.

"Hwy you two alright?" The man driving the boat asked as he carefully maneuvered the small boat next to them and rushed to help them on board.

"Yeah We're good." Tony answered for the both of them as he was helped to the boat first because of his partner's insistence. He knew the older man was glaring at him, but he felt too shitty to care. In truth he was aching all around and he was pretty sure he might have fractured his ankle while taking the tumble down the stairs, not to mentioned how exhausted he was after everything that had happened.

"Well you don't look fine mister. As a matter of fact there's a small clinic near the docs a mile or so over. I think it's best I'll call my friend who's a doctor there to check the both of you over."

By now Jethro was on the boat as well and before Tony could decline the kind offer the older man had already voiced his agreement.

Though right at the moment he couldn't bother arguing, he was shivering with cold as the wind blew and as he sat next to Jethro he tried to lean closer to him even though the other man was just as soaked and cold as he was and couldn't offer much in the way of warmth.

Suddenly there was a blanket draped around him and another was put around Gibbs as their rescuer made sure they were taken care of until they'll get to the clinic.

"When I saw the flare I thought you might have hit one of the rocks since we have a lot of those around here, but boy I wasn't expecting to find the boat on fire and-"

Both Gibbs and Tony let the chatter of the man drown into the wind that blew past them as they looked back to watch the burning remains of the boat. Tony leaned against his partner and reached to squeeze Jethro's hand, smiling slightly when the other man squeezed back.

The Dark Lady was nothing but a smoking pile of flames and as they sped further away from it the further the nightmare of the night seemed to fade along with her. They probably wouldn't ever really talk about what happened since they both had a feeling they would never truly understand it all. But they were grateful that they survived with only few small pains and aches thought Jethro would keep a close eye on his lover for a while and make sure he would suffer now serious ill effects from the dunking he got when he went over board the first time and from the fall down the stairs.

They would go to the clinic and then get home to recuperate and spend the rest of their vacation on safe, dry land. It would all be okay.

In the distance The Dark Lady burnt to nothing while mourning her faith, until there was nothing left of her.

_**Epilogue:**_

A few months after the destruction of The Dark Lady, Jethro had started to get restless since they had both had time to recover from that night and now he was itching to work on something with his hands again.

After a lot of planning and thinking, the two men decided to go with the plan of making another boat, one that would their project that they would work on together.

Jethro patiently walked Tony through the art of making something like a boat from scratch and bit by bit they made progress. It took the younger man a while to be comfortable enough to actually do much work on the boat but once he relaxed and let himself enjoy the simple activity he found himself really enjoying it. It was nice to come home and spent time with his partner working side by side and enjoying each others company.

After months of work Tony stood by the skeleton of the construction and smoothed the ribs of the boat with a sandpaper while Gibbs was putting tools away and getting ready to head off to bed.

"You coming up?" He asked the younger man as he came to stand behind Tony and pressed a kiss to his neck.

"Yeah." Tony smiled and went to put the sandpaper to the workbench as Jethro waited for him at the bottom of the stairs.

The younger man walked past the boat and he couldn't help but run his hand along one of the ribs, smiling as he got the sense that the boat would be purring if it could because of the petting.

Together the two men made their way up the stairs and at the top Tony couldn't resist turning back and calling down to the boat "Nighty night little boaty" Jethro chuckled as he turned off the light and teased his partner about getting jealous if Tony kept up flirting with the boat.

The mens laughter drifted down the stairs to the basement and to the boat that had yet to be given a name.

She listened to the sounds of the happy couple and felt content, they were her men and she loved both dearly for the care they were showing her and wanted nothing more than to see them so happy. She was lucky to belong to them and she couldn't wait for the day when she was ready and would get to go sailing with her men.

She couldn't be in better hands.

She was going to be one happy boat.

_**THE END**_

_**The Dark Lady**__  
__**Lyrics and music Bernadette Gillece**__  
__**Performed by **__**The Bedlam Bards**__** on **__**Furious Fancies**__  
__**Performed by **__**The Bilge Pumps**__** on **__**Brigands with Big'uns**__  
__**Performed by **__**The Shantyman**__** on **__**Pirate's Life**___

A fierce one-eyed man named Baron LaBonne  
A meaner pirate had never been known  
And he sailed on the Dark Lady  
A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew  
And high on the mast the skull and bones flew  
Fleet and swift was the Dark Lady  
_  
And ever night the Baron would drink a toast  
He'd say, "Here's to my lovely lady host!  
My one true love..."  
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied  
And the Dark Lady sighed._

A rich Spanish galleon was spotted one night  
The Dark Lady's crew prepared for the fight  
Clash of swords...No Spaniard survived it  
Except for the maiden with dark eyes so bold  
Found in the hull with the jewels and the gold  
LaBonne laughed and took her for ransom

And ever night the Baron would drink a toast  
He'd say, "Here's to my lovely lady host!  
My one true love..."  
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied  
And the Dark Lady sighed.

The girl Carlotta was a beauty quite rare  
With each passing night LaBonne couldn't bear  
His empty bed. He brought her to it.  
The Baron soon found he felt more than desire  
His love for her grew and his soul filled with fire  
He proclaimed that they would marry.

That night the Baron drank with jubilee  
And said, "Here's to my lovely bride to be!  
My one true love..."  
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied  
And the Dark Lady cried.

The following night a storm brewed at sea  
The Dark Lady saw her chance to be free  
Of her rival, the beauty Carlotta  
The ship steered herself to the heart of the gale  
Where a wave swept the maiden out over the rail  
Sweet revenge on an unfaithful lover.

That night the Lady drank a toast  
And said, "Here's to your lovely lady host!  
Your one true love..."  
No voices replied  
And the Dark Lady smiled.

And now any night when a storm fills the sky  
They say that a ghost ship sails in it's eye  
Fleet and swift is the Dark Lady  
A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew  
And high on the mast the skull and bones flew  
_While the captain gazes out to sea._

And every night the Baron must drink a toast  
He says, "Here's to our lovely lady host!  
My one true love..."  
"Hear, hear," the ghost crew replies  
And the Dark Lady smiles.


End file.
